Tag Archives: with

Oct

This recipe is slow cooking but the every bit of it is totally worth the wait. If you’re like me who likes beef stews, I know you would appreciate the process of why beef has to be cooked slowly over a long period of time. If you have no patience for waiting, then you’re better off ordering your beef stews from a restaurant or let someone else cook for you.

This is the dish where the first bite or smell gets you hungry immediately. And it also makes you remember what it was like to taste it for the first time as a child. For me, it was my grandma who made it for dinner. She let us sit on our chairs and wait as she ladled on this steamy sauce onto our plates. Nothing beats that first bite into the soft and moist meat.

It makes me feel all warm and nice when I accomplish a recipe that my ancestors before me have perfected long ago. It’s like I have passed the test. Now I am ready to make my kids feel the same way. I want them to experience the sensation of tasting a good home cooked meal that would satisfy them completely. I know they’ll never forget that. And to me, that would be mission accomplished.

Ingredients

3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup Italian salad dressing

2 cups water

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed beef broth

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 small potatoes, quartered

6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cold water

Description

Warm up your large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Place in the beef and Italian dressing and cook until the meat is browned. That should be about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover it up and simmer until the meat is tender. That takes about an hour and a half.

Then, add in potatoes, carrots, bell pepper and onion into the stew. Cover this and simmer over low heat this time. This takes another 45 minutes.

Mix flour and cold water in a small bowl. Then add this to the stew mixture and stir slowly. Bring this to a boil and cook until the stew sauce has thickened. Give this about 2 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Best served hot.

Oct

Beef is one of the world’s healthiest foods. For being so spectacularly rich and nutritious, beef is best with vegetables. With that, you get about enough omega-3 fats, calcium, Vitamin E and proteins.

This dish sounds fancy and meals like this tend to make my family a little giddy about how it’s made. They drill me about every detail of the dish because they like to test me especially on the name. My friend Google saves me a lot.

I found out that Beef bourguignon or bœuf bourguignon and boeuf à la Bourguignonne is also called beef Burgundy. The recipe (not the beef) is named after Burgundy, a region in France. This steaming red meat cooked on the best sauce and paired with vegetables is a traditional French recipe. Personally, I think their beef recipes are brilliant and should be on every dinner table. Trust me, you’ll agree with me on this one a hundred percent.

Description

Begin by preheating the oven to 350°F. Then take a large piece of foil and place the garlic on it. Add the 2 tablespoons of wine and wrap the foil around to enclose it. Place in the oven and roast for 40 minutes. Let cool after. Press garlic between fingertips to release from skins and set aside.

Warm a large pot and then cook the bacon for 10 minutes or until it turns brown. Remove and dry over paper towels. Save the drippings into a small bowl. Take about 2 tablespoons of it. Increase the heat and cook the beef in batches. It takes about 7 minutes to cook per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a large bowl.

Reduce the heat this time to medium-low. Next, add the chopped onions and carrots to the pot. Sauté this for 5 minutes. Then mix in the flour and add the cooked beef including its accumulated juices. Stir in tomato paste and herb sprigs, bay leaves, roasted garlic and 2 cups of wine. Simmer this mixture for 15 minutes. Add 3 cups broth, cover and then simmer again for an hour and a half. Stir occasionally. Uncover and then simmer for another 1 and 1/2 hours. Remove the herb sprigs and bay leaves.

In a large saucepan, cook pearl onion on salted water for 2 minutes. Then transfer the onion to a medium-sized bowl using a strainer. Cool slightly and then peel. Bring water to a boil and cook carrots for 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to the bowl of iced water. (Bacon, stew and vegetables can be prepared a day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)

Heat up the 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings on a large skillet using medium to high heat. Add the mushroom, sauté until golden brown for about 6 minutes. Next, add in the pearl onions, carrots and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Bring this stew to simmer, thinning with more broth. Stir bacon and 2/3 of the vegetables into stew. Transfer to large bowl and top with the remaining vegetables.

19

Oct

I know it can be confusing to prepare a meal for dinner guests who are vegetarians. Having that prior notice used to give me panic attacks until I discovered this recipe. The best thing about this dish is the fact that it’s packed with nutrients. That matters when you have guests who count the vitamins and calories in everything.

I just have to say that rice is very filling so I urge you not to eat too much of this at one time. But the dish is lovely as a dinner starter. Try serving it up with other light dishes such as fish (or any seafood dish for that matter) or chicken but never with pasta or mashed potatoes. You don’t want to load your guests up with too many carbohydrates in one meal.

You’re probably in for a treat too because of the Parmesan cheese which doesn’t overwhelm the dish at all. It even gives it a little twist if you find the tomatoes a bit much. Other than this side note, you’re good to go!

Ingredients

1 cup short-grain white rice

6 ripe but firm large tomatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Description

Fill up a medium sauce pan with water and add salt. Bring this to a boil and add the rice. Stirring constantly, wait for the rice to cook. It takes about 10 minutes and then you can drain the excess water. Run cold water through the rice and drain as well to set it aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, slice off the tops of the tomatoes about half an inch thick. Set aside the tops. Gently scoop out all the juice, seeds and pulp and place them on a separate bowl. Reserve ¼ cup of the tomato juice-pulp content.

Prepare an 8 x 8 inch thick baking dish and spread olive oil to grease the bottom. Then arrange the hollowed out tomatoes into the baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, throw in the remaining tomato juice-pulp contents with the rice. Mix these before adding the Parmesan cheese, basil, parsley, garlic and olive oil. Combine them well and season with salt and pepper.

Then spoon a mixture of the rice into each tomato and mound them in slightly to make sure the contents are really stuffed inside. When done, sprinkle what’s left of the stuffing mixture at the bottom of the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Place the sliced off tops on the tomato and bake in the oven until rice is heated through, usually about 20 minutes. Best served hot or at room temperature, when necessary.

19

Oct

I am the testament that chicken can be cooked best when baked. Fried chicken is good and I have nothing against them especially on days when I don’t feel like cooking and pizza just won’t get it done sometimes (I know you get what I mean). So I order in a big tub of fried chicken. But that doesn’t happen often.

I stand by my belief that baking chicken makes it moister on the inside which is more important than having the crisp on the first bite. Why do I say that? A perfectly moist chicken makes you want to eat all of it. The crisp works only after a first few bites. When the crunch is gone, it’s goodbye to the rest of the meat.

Trust me, I have had to finish off plenty of chicken pieces with the skins gone. Baking it with lemon and the right herbs would bring out its essence especially when you’re generous with the lemon. When the baking is done, the aroma of lemon combined with herb would lift up many down spirits any time of the day.

Ingredients

2 large cloves garlic

Coarse salt or sea salt

3 to 4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

12 chicken thighs, trimmed of fat, rinsed, and patted dry

2 large lemons, each cut into six 1/4-inch rounds

1 bunch fresh rosemary, snipped into twelve 2-inch pieces

1 bunch fresh thyme, snipped into twelve 2-inch pieces

12 sage leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

Description

Begin by mashing up garlic with a pinch of salt using a mortar and pestle. You do this in order to create a coarse paste. Using the back of the spoon and a small mixing bowl would do the same trick. Add in the oil very slowly in drops as you pound and grind on the paste. Continue to do this until the allioli is thick, creamy and emulsified. Put the chicken in a bowl and rub this allioli all over. Rub it under the skin as well. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat up your oven to 425°F and set an oven rack in the middle. Using a large shallow roasting pan or a 9x13x2 inches baking dish, arrange lemon slices in one layer. Top each lemon slice with a piece of rosemary, thyme and sage leaf. Set the chicken thighs skin side up. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. Place it on the baking oven until the skin is golden and juices are clear. That usually takes 45 minutes to an hour.

A lot of times, both the lemon and chicken would produce a lot of juice but you can create a delicious pan sauce out of that. Remove chicken from the pan. Transfer the lemon and herbs to a plate and place chicken on top. Cover it loosely with foil. Using a small skillet, heat up the juice until it thickens to a saucy consistency. Drizzle on the sauce around the chicken (and not on top) to maintain its crisp skin when served.

19

Oct

One of the hardest choices I could make in life is to choose which cheesecake variety to eat with my coffee. Don’t laugh but I just find it really hard to select one flavor over the other. My mind tells me to pick one from strawberries to plain and chocolate, even peanut butter. But my heart tells me to wrap them all up and take them home.

I know you’re smiling just about now. Have you had one of those dilemmas? I have those every time and wish I could just make my life a little simpler for myself. Husband says that making my own cheesecake would tell me for sure which ones to become my favorite. I love cheesecakes period. But to choose a topping would mean selecting a variety – all of them are pretty darn good.

I don’t expect everyone to know what that’s like but I followed my husband’s advice and decided to create my version of a raspberry cheesecake with a twist. Instead of just pouring this topping all over the cake, I incorporated it as a swirl. Sounds interesting right? Get ready then, this will be quite a handful to make.

Ingredients

1 cup finely ground graham crackers

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 3/4 cups sugar

6 ounces raspberries

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

Boiling water, for roasting pan

Description

Begin by preheating the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9 inch springform pan and wrap it with foil including the base. Set aside for the meantime.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix cracker crumbs, melted butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Pour this mixture on the pan and press this crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom of it. Take this into the oven and bake until it sets. This takes about 10 minutes. When done, remove from oven and let it cool on a wire rack. Then, reduce the oven temperature to about 325 °F.

Take out your food processor. Process the raspberries until it becomes smooth. That only takes about 30 seconds. Then pour the puree through a fine sieve into a small bowl and throw away the solid particles. Next, whisk in 2 tablespoons of sugar and give a little whisk. Set aside.

Now, attach the paddle into the mixer and pour cream cheese in the bowl. On medium speed, mix until the cream cheese turns fluffy. That takes about 3 minutes. Then reduce the speed to lowest setting, and then add in the remaining 1 and a half cups of sugar. Let it mix on a slow stream. Next, add the salt and vanilla then mix well until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix them well but don’t overdo it. Then, pour in the cream cheese filling over the cooked crust.

Next, use a teaspoon and drop in the raspberry sauce. With a wooden skewer or a small stick, swirl the sauce into the filling slowly making sure the color doesn’t combine into the white fluffy cream mixture.

Take a large shallow roasting pan and set in the cake pan and slowly transfer them into the oven. Using a ladle to scoop water, carefully pour in the water into the roasting pan until it reaches half way up the sides of the cake pan. Let this bake for 60 to 65 minutes. This should leave the center of the cake wobbly.

Remove from the oven and transfer cake pan to a wire rack. Let this cool completely. Place this into the refrigerator uncovered for 6 hours or overnight. Run a knife around the cake and then unmold into a serving place. Slice according to desired cuts. Best served chilled.

19

Oct

There’s a reason why I like the French style of cooking. Aside from the butter, of course, they name their dishes in the most fancy of fashions which is what I adore most. If they’re hard to pronounce, then they must taste just as interesting. And this dish doesn’t disappoint in the taste department.

It’s the cream, I say. The creams and sauces in French cuisine are the best. Couple that with toppings of cheeses, seasoned breadcrumbs and then baked to perfection and it becomes pure heaven. I have always loved any dish with a thick sauce on it, especially when the sauces are white and oozing with cheese.

Now if you’re very fond of the classic mashed potatoes, then this one will surely give your taste buds a good trip. Trust me, you’ll think of the French countryside when you take your first bite on this. You see, potatoes are great by itself. You can add them to any baked meats and it’ll still rock your taste buds. But when you pair it with a creamy cheese sauce, it’s a whole new level of culinary heaven.

Cooking in au gratin style is the best way to prepare your potatoes. If that doesn’t persuade you then you are not the foodie I expect you to be.

Ingredients

4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices

1 onion, sliced into rings

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Description

Start by preheating your oven to 400°F or about 200°C. Grease a 1-quart casserole dish with butter generously.

Arrange half of the potatoes at the bottom of the dish by layering them in one by one. Top with the onion slices and then add the remaining potatoes. Make sure to season this with salt and pepper to taste.

Melt butter in a medium-sized sauce pan. Use medium heat on this one so you won’t burn the butter. Next, mix in the flour and salt and stir constantly with a whisk for a minute. Then stir in the milk. Cook this until the mixture has thickened a bit. Lastly, add the cheese over the potatoes and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Place the dish in the oven and bake for an hour and a half. By the then, the potatoes will have been tender and cheeses are melted. Best served hot.

19

Oct

I got into a mini debate with a friend today about calling tomato a fruit or a vegetable. I insisted on calling it a vegetable. To my knowledge, people classified them as such, right? I was schooled today. She googled it and won the argument. I was on my way to get the chicken recipe I wanted to show her until I was inspired by earlier events.

I planned on making tomatoes the star of my dinner. This recipe is just the perfect complement to the day filled with food debates and internet surfing for answers. I ended up inviting her over for dinner so she could see the humor in what I was about to do.

Baking tomatoes from scratch is good. Simply drizzle olive oil on it and salt and you’re good to go. They give off a special aroma which not all vegetables/fruits have when baked. And they’re pretty nutritious too. Having the chicken to bake along with the tomatoes is a lovely combination, in my opinion.

This recipe also kept my kids craving for tomatoes more. They used to hate eating them because they tasted bland and had no special flavor. I can’t blame them for thinking this way. But this dish will change all that. Trust me, your kids will love tomatoes after having this.

Ingredients

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 small onion, chopped

1 can (14.5 ounces) tomatoes

2 bay leaves

Description

Begin with the dry ingredients: Mix in flour, salt and pepper. Next, drench each chicken piece with this mixture. Rub it all over until every part is coated.

Over medium-high heat, warm up a skillet and then add in butter to allow it to melt and follow it up with oil so it doesn’t burn right away. Then slowly add in the chicken and cook until golden brown.

Take the cooked chicken out from the oil and place it into a baking dish. In the same skillet, sauté the mushrooms and onions. Next, add the remaining drenching flour mixture to make rue. Then throw in the tomatoes and bay leaves and give it a light stir.

Cook this for about 4 minutes or until rue is done and pour this over the chicken pieces. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350°F until chicken is tender or wait about 40 minutes. Remove from oven to cool down a bit before serving. Best served warm. Serves 6.

19

Oct

I don’t know about you but watching cheese as it melts makes me hungry. Anyone who can resist a cheese and potato combination must dislike food or something. But for the life of me, why would you? There’s nothing to disapprove about this recipe. This dish is basically hyped up mashed potatoes with just a bit more cheese added to it (abundantly so). It would be the perfect complement to steak or fried chicken dinners. Yum!

It’s healthier too because you left the skins on the potatoes not just for presentation. Now some people may not want to eat the skins and that’s perfectly fine. They’re missing out though because I’ve learned that potato skins contain more nutrients than the flesh itself. It really is more nutritious to eat the skin. Anyway it’s perfectly clean. Just make sure to wash them thoroughly before you start baking at all.

If you’re the world’s biggest fan of mashed potatoes like I am, then this recipe will knock your socks off. It’s flavorful and the mushrooms give it a new texture. Plus, the cheese is just heaven. The kids will love this recipe as much as you do. I can tell you that!

Ingredients

6 small russet potatoes (about 7 ounces each), scrubbed

5 tablespoons butter, room temperature

12 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped

2 large green onions, chopped

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (about 1/2 cup)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups coarsely grated white cheddar cheese

Description

Start by baking the potatoes. Set the oven to preheat at 375°F. Using a fork, pierce each potato several times and place them directly on the rack. Bake for at least an hour. When done, they should break open easily just don’t destroy the skins on them.

While potatoes are baking, melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms for about 7 minutes or until golden brown. Stir frequently. Then add the green onions, cook until wilted and set aside.

Take the potatoes out from the oven using your mitts and cut them in half, lengthwise. Slowly scoop out all of the cooked flesh, place it on a bowl and leave the skins intact. Add sour cream, cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of butter (not melted) to the bowl and mash all ingredients together. Mix well after.

Then take the mushroom and green onion and add them to the mashed potatoes. Add half a cup of cheddar cheese and mix well. Season to taste using salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, preheat oven again to 375°F. Then take a spoon and mound in the mashed potato mixture gently into the skins. Sprinkle each with about a tablespoon of cheese. Place each potato half on a baking sheet. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate just before baking.

Bake the potato halves until all the cheese melts through. That takes about 25-35 minutes depending on how long the potatoes have been refrigerated. Serve hot.

19

Oct

I had a dinner party on the eve of spring last year and this was an absolute hit! I didn’t quite expect it because I knew many of my guests were big on organic food and vegetables. I remember having a difficult time deciding what to serve. I had to source out all the ingredients on this dish including the chicken from an organic store. I originally planned on having 2 chicken dishes for the night but decided otherwise. I settled on this one because it had potatoes so I no longer served the mashed ones.

It worked out pretty well. I already knew that adding herbs on chicken would be good. That’s a winning combination altogether. If you have to roast chicken you need the aromatics to go alongside it. Now adding the baby potatoes just completed the dish.

I found out soon after that what they loved about the dish was the texture of the meat. The chicken was juicy and tender on the inside, not to mention the rosemary smelled so good on it. I remembered that I served it last and it had just come out of the oven so it was piping hot. To me, that sealed the deal. After my guests had smelled the aroma, they probably didn’t want to try anything else.

Ingredients

1 (4 to 5 pound) free-range chicken

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, halved

1 head garlic, halved

1/4 bunch each fresh rosemary, thyme, and parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

11/2 pounds red new potatoes

Description

Begin by preheating the oven to 400°F.

Make sure to clean the chicken by rinsing it with cool water. Pat dry with toilet paper towels.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper including the cavity before stuffing the lemon, garlic and herbs inside it.

Take a roasting pan and place the chicken breast side up. Next, using a kitchen twine, tie the legs of the chicken together in order to hold its shape.

Arrange the potatoes around the roasting pan. It should surround the chicken well and then season everything with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Then drizzle on olive oil.

Place the whole thing in the oven and roast for about an hour or a little over (half an hour will do just fine). It’s best to rotate the pan every 20 minutes to make sure the browning of the skin is even. Baste the chicken on its own sauce after every turn.

Insert a meat thermometer to the thickest part of the bird and check to see if the temperature reads at 165°F. That’s how you’ll know the chicken is done. Check to see if the legs would wiggle out easily from the sockets.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and arrange the potatoes. Baste everything with the sauce left on the roasting pan. Best served hot.